Karnataka Cabinet to Get Seven New Ministers in Third Week of September

India वोट Kar | September 1, 2018

The three-month-old Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka will induct seven new ministers in the third week of September, former chief minister Siddaramaiah said on Friday. Siddaramaiah, the Congress leader who chairs the two parties’ coordination committee, spoke after a meeting of the committee.

Cabinet and boards

“Six people from our Congress side and one from JD(S) will be included in the cabinet,” he said. Chairpersons of boards and corporations will be appointed at the same time. Siddaramaiah said MLAs would get first preference for these posts, followed by party workers, adding that not every MLA who wants to be a minister can be accommodated, so some would be made chairpersons instead. Decisions are due on 30 such posts, 20 for the Congress and the rest for the JD(S).

Council vacancies

The committee has yet to decide on three nominated MLC seats and on filling the seats vacated by V Somanna, Dr G Parameshwara and K S Eshwarappa. Somanna had four years of his term left and the other two had two years each. He said there was no discussion on the JD(S) demand that its state president Adagur H Vishwanath be added to the committee. On reservation in promotions for SC/ST employees, the government would await the Supreme Court’s September 5 verdict.

On the coalition’s stability

Siddaramaiah said flood relief work would be taken up on a war footing. He dismissed reports of friction between the Congress and the JD(S) as baseless, said the government would last five years and deliver on the common minimum programme, and repeated that he wanted to be chief minister again only after the next election, with the people’s mandate. He also said he would not contest the next assembly election.